Supporters choose to donate to organizations for a variety of reasons. (Here's a list of a few.) While most of the time you’re better off focusing on the emotional side of giving, at the end of the year data shows you  can get away with an appeal that’s focused on the financial side because people love tax deductions.*

The summer months are a great time to focus on building stronger relationships with supporters to lay the groundwork for a big year-end giving season. By checking these items off your list now, you can strengthen the vital relationships that will set your organization up for a strong holiday giving season.  

Here are five tips to help you kick off your holiday fundraising in July:

  1. First things first: Make sure your organization can accept online donations. Though you're clearly getting on the ball by tackling end-of-the-year fundraising now, your donors may still put off "the big give" until the last minute. Make sure your donors are going to an easy-to- use, customized donation form that generates that vital tax receipt immediately – all without having to leave your website. (That is, unless you want to take their credit card info over the phone at 11:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve. Your call!) Contact us to try out our DonateNow service.

  2. Determine the fixes/updates you can make prior to December to your organization's website. Can you make your donate button bigger? Do you need to add a "why give" page? We're not talking a website overhaul – just a few minor modifications you'll be thankful for a few months from now. Check out these three steps you can take toward a better website.  If your website is already up to par, and you’re ready to move on to social media, here are 11 Steps to Success and 6 Things to Avoid. 

  3. Become friendly with an email marketing tool to communicate with your donors regularly – not just when you’re asking for money. And we're not talking about Outlook. Giving your supporters content of value as it happens, rather than just at the end of the year will increase your donors’ feeling of investment in your organization, which leads to higher gifts.  An email marketing tool will also help you comply with CAN-SPAM laws, allow your supporters to easily share your information with a friend on social networks and generally keep them happy! Get started with EmailNow in July 2010, and you’ll be eligible for an exclusive consultation that will help you start – or improve – your email campaigns immediately.

  4. Get your story straight. Put some heart and soul into your organization.  Passion about your work is infectious, but too often fundraisers sap the emotion and color from our work when we seek to put it into words.  We talk about our work in analytical ways when we should be speaking from the heart to compel people to action. Find out how to break out of this pattern and get the tools to help you write the right (brain) way every time. 

  5. Make a plan. Tips 1-4 get right to the practical heart of your marketing strategy. Don't forget to take a step back to plan ahead. Do you have year-end fundraising goals? Do you know who or what you'd like to highlight? What positive information and updates will you highlight for your audience(s)? And, maybe most importantly, what are your donors looking for - news, updates, stories, numbers/figures/results of a past campaign? Ask your audience what they need and want from you and deliver it! They'll remember it when your well-crafted appeals start rolling in a few months.

*Don't believe that tax breaks are a major influencer? Network for Good processes 40% of its annual donations in the month of December, and the majority of that comes December 30 and 31. It's not exactly a coincidence that this time is right before the tax-year ends! Nonprofit organizations can fulfill supporter’s desires for tax deductions just by being a 501(c)(3) (about.com has some info you can share with your potential donors about this).